HELOISE: Reuse cards as gift tags, boxes

Dear Heloise: I select the prettiest cards from used greeting cards to make gift tags and little gift boxes. Use regular scissors or scalloped-edge pinking shears to make the tags.

Also, I take the fronts of nice cards to make little gift boxes, perfect for gifts of earrings, rings, necklaces or other small presents. The bottom flaps are glued, as well as the side tab. Make two holes on top with a paper punch, and a pretty ribbon ties the box shut. It takes three minutes to make a box.

Pat Arnold, Texarkana, Texas

Dear Heloise: To solve a sticky problem, use a hair dryer on a warm setting to remove price tags from gifts or garage-sale items, etc., or from things you cannot wash to remove. The heat will soften the glue to make it easier to lift off without damaging a plastic bag or the item the tag is sticking on!

Juanita Pitts, via e-mail

Dear Readers: Old margarine tubs clogging your cupboards? Here are some ways to reuse them:

Use to sort out nuts, bolts, screws and nails in the workshop.

Store leftovers in them.

Use to hold birdseed.

They make good travel organizers for pet food and water.

Heloise

Dear Heloise: As a student, I rarely have the time or energy to floss my teeth before going to bed. However, every six months at my routine appointment, my dentist reminds me of the benefits of flossing. Damage can occur from neglecting this important duty.

I thought of a trick to remind me to floss every day. I keep the floss next to my computer. While waiting for my computer to boot up or for slow Web pages to load, I see the floss strategically placed on my desk, and it reminds me to use it.

Jessica in New York

Dear Heloise: Candle safety hint: When I light a candle, I put a rubber band on my wrist. Then, when I blow out the candle, I remove the rubber band. If I get ready for bed and find the rubber band still on my wrist, I know I forgot to blow the candle out.

Hopefully, this will help others.

Beverly in Pennsylvania

Don’t use a too-tight, thin rubber band around your wrist. This is a good way to remember a lot of things that need to done.

Heloise

SOUND OFF

Dear Heloise: I don’t understand why cars have to pass you on the interstate, just to lock up their brakes to get off at the very next exit. Why don’t they get behind you, so neither vehicle has to slow down when one gets off?

Frank D., via e-mail

Send a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000, fax it to 210-HELOISE or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com.

King Features Syndicate